Zones & the map the council should publish

Zones — and the map the council should publish

A street's zone decides how quickly the council must act when it falls below standard. So the single most important document for holding the council to account is its zonal map — the record of which streets sit in which zone. The Code says this map must be published.

The duty to publish (Code paragraph 6.13). “All duty bodies should publish their zoning maps online, and make them available in hard copy on request. Each map should show a date of publication.” The Code adds that maps should be routinely reviewed and re-published when relevant land changes.

Does West Northamptonshire Council publish one? — and what we searched

The site moderator, together with the appointed solicitor and legal team advising on this matter, have carried out extensive searches — including of the Council's own website — for West Northamptonshire Council's litter and refuse zonal map, and to date have been unable to locate one. We are being open about exactly where we have looked.

Where we have searched:

West Northamptonshire Council's website, including its Litter Charter (last updated 18 March 2024, which pre-dates the current Code and contains no zonal map — it refers to “high, medium or low footfall” only in relation to where litter bins are placed).
The council's public web map, reviewing every published layer — addresses, heritage and conservation, community and living, council and democracy, education, the draft Local Plan, libraries and country parks, transport and streets, flooding, and prohibited street trading. None is a litter, street-cleansing or cleanliness-zones layer.
The three predecessor authorities that merged to form the council in 2021 — Northampton Borough, Daventry District, and South Northamptonshire.
General web searches for a West Northamptonshire litter and refuse zoning map or zone schedule.

On the basis of these searches we have been unable to find a published zonal map. We are continuing to look, and have formally requested the map from the Council under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. A dated record of these searches is held on file.

Invitation to the Council — we want to get this right. If West Northamptonshire Council has published a zonal map, or holds one, we would genuinely welcome being pointed to it. Tell us where it is and we will link it here in full, correct this page promptly, and re-classify these streets to match the Council's own map. Our aim is accuracy — not to misrepresent the Council's position.

What a published zonal map looks like — examples from other councils

Other councils already publish what the Code requires. These are good examples of what West Northamptonshire Council should be providing to its residents:

St Albans City & District Council publishes a full set on its street cleaning page: a street cleansing zoning map, a control calendar showing how often each area is checked, and pictorial grading standards for litter and detritus. Its own page confirms that once a road falls below the expected level, its contractor has “a set timeframe within which to restore it” — the very same duty that applies in West Northamptonshire, where cleansing is also carried out by a contractor.

Eden District Council publishes a litter and refuse zones document that sets out its policy, a schedule of zones, and even lists the individual streets that fall within each zone.

Note: some of these documents use the older numbered zones (Zone 1–11) from the earlier framework. The current March 2026 Code uses four named zones — High, Medium, Low, and Special circumstances — but the principle is the same: a council publicly assigning streets to zones, with a map and checking frequencies.

Our working classification for these streets

Until the council publishes its official map, the table below is our own working assessment, based on the Code's definitions. It is a starting point for discussion and challenge — not a substitute for the council's published map.

Street	Our assessed zone	Response time that follows	Basis	Status
Charles Street	Medium intensity	1 day (Grade A by 6pm the following evening)	Residential street used regularly by the public, near The Lab.	Our assessment — awaiting WNC's published map
Earl Street	High intensity	Half a day (Grade A by 6pm if reported before 1pm)	Anchored by an ALDI supermarket and the 500-capacity Charles Bradlaugh pub and venue; secondary retail/commercial with high footfall to the town centre.	Our assessment — awaiting WNC's published map
Military Road	Medium intensity	1 day (Grade A by 6pm the following evening)	Residential/through street used regularly by the public.	Our assessment — awaiting WNC's published map
Great Russell Street	Medium intensity	1 day (Grade A by 6pm the following evening)	Residential street used regularly by the public.	Our assessment — awaiting WNC's published map
Shakespeare Road	Medium intensity	1 day (Grade A by 6pm the following evening)	Residential street used regularly by the public.	Coming online — awaiting first evidence
Gray Street	Medium intensity	1 day (Grade A by 6pm the following evening)	Residential street used regularly by the public.	Coming online — awaiting first evidence

This could be a shorter deadline. If any of these streets has significant retail or commercial frontage, or clear high footfall, the Code would place it in the High intensity zone — a half-day response, not one day. The Code's rule: “If in doubt, categorise a land use into the same zone as the dominant land uses around it.” See Zones & response times for how to challenge a classification.

← Back to the streets